


Family

by scarletmanuka



Series: To Rule the Heart [4]
Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Family Fluff, Fluff, Multi, Short & Sweet, falling asleep together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-10 22:05:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7862884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletmanuka/pseuds/scarletmanuka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a very short, sappy snippet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family

Sam yawned, his jaw cracking, and sank back in the armchair. He’d worked almost a week of double shifts, and on top of that, the baby had colic so the little he’d been home had been spent pacing the hallways, bouncing the small boy in his arms, trying to settle him. Sybil was still recovering after the traumatic birth, and tired easily. Knowing how demanding his job was, it was one of the reasons that he had insisted on getting a nanny to help out - he knew she couldn’t do it all by herself, and he wouldn’t always be able to be there.

He yawned again, and contemplated going to bed. He’d just managed to get Young Sam to sleep and knew that if he didn’t take the opportunity to get his head down now, he’d probably not get another for quite some time. He was discovering that the stories he’d heard of babies sleeping all day and all night were greatly exaggerated. If they weren’t, then he wanted to punch those gloating parents on the nose. His son slept for no more than an hour or two at a time.

There was a knock at the door, and he heard voices as Willikins answered it. The butler soon appeared in the doorway and announced, “Lord Vetinari to see you, Your Grace.”

Sam sat up, a smile on his tired face. Havelock sauntered into the room, pausing discreetly until Willikins had excused himself. Once alone, he crossed to the chair and bent to brush his lips across Sam’s, and then sat in the chair opposite. “Sorry for dropping in unannounced,” he said. “I was in the area and saw the light still on. I thought I’d take the chance.”

Noticing the dark green clothes, Sam knew just exactly what he’d been doing in the area. “I’m glad you stopped by,” he said, no longer feeling quite as tired. “Sorry I haven’t seen much of you lately.”

Havelock shrugged. “We both knew that things would change after the baby arrived. It’s not like they keep to a schedule.”

Sam gave him a small smile, his heart clenching a little at how understanding Havelock was. Before they’d become involved he would have pegged the man as being a demanding lover, but he was anything but. “I know. I still feel bad though. It feels like we’ve not had any time together in ages.”

“How are you finding fatherhood?”

“Tiring. Completely, and utterly exhausting.” He paused. “But good. Don’t get me wrong - it’s _nice_ being a proper family, but it would be nicer if I was awake enough to enjoy it.” He stood up from the armchair, an idea popping into his head. “Come with me,” he said, holding out his hand for Havelock to take. He led them out of the drawing room and into a sitting room where there were several couches. He sat on one and pulled his lover down next to him, wrapping his arms around the slender frame. Havelock wrapped his arms around him, and snuggled against him. Sam closed his eyes and sighed contentedly at the embrace, and let his head sink back onto the headrest. “It’s so nice to just _sit_ ,” he murmured. “But it’s nicer to sit with you.”

He felt lips at his throat. “I’ve missed you,” Havelock said softly.

Sam squeezed him a little tighter in reply, letting him know that he’d also been missed. “How have you been?” he asked.

He felt his lover shrug. “Busy. But probably more so because I find work to do to keep me occupied. If you’d been available, I’d have easily been able to find spare time.”

“Sorry,” Sam whispered.

“Don’t be,” Havelock told him, sounding just slightly exasperated. “We both entered this knowing that this could happen. I don’t want us to spend the little time we have together wallowing in self pity and countless apologies for the reasons we have so little time. Can’t we just enjoy the moment?”

Sam brushed a kiss to his temple. “You’re right. I’m so glad you’re here.”

Havelock stretched out his neck and kissed him, then settled back down into his arms. “As am I.” They simply lay there, taking comfort from the closeness, their breathing the only sound in the quiet room.

*****

Sam’s eyes opened and he looked blearily around the room, trying to find his bearings. It took him a moment to recognise the downstairs sitting room. He was lying on the couch, a cushion under his head, and a blanket over him. He was alone.

He stood, and stumbled down the hall to the kitchen, where his nose was telling him that breakfast was cooking. He stopped in the doorway and rubbed at his eyes, trying to decipher the images they were sending to his brain.

Sybil was at the stove, a frypan in hand, and the smell of burning pig determined there would be a higher number of burnt, crunchy bits in the bacon today than normal. Havelock sat at the table, and he had Young Sam propped over one shoulder. He was rubbing circles on the baby’s back, and rocking almost imperceptibly from side to side.

“Morning, dear,” Sybil chirped, a broad smile on her face.

“I fell asleep,” Sam said, his brain still trying to wake up.

“You both did,” his wife told him, as she took the frypan off the stove and moved across to the table. “I came looking for you when I woke up to feed Young Sam. It was quite adorable to see you two curled up together.”

Havelock’s cheeks tinged pink at this, and he threw Sam a bashful smile. Seeing the man who had terrified the guilds into becoming organised, and was known to have a scorpion pit at the ready, sitting with a burp rag on his shoulder, and gently rocking the baby - all the while blushing prettily - was almost too much for Sam to handle. Perhaps it was the fact that his entire little family was together in the one room, or maybe it was the sheer exhaustion, but he was feeling quite sappy.

“Sit down, dear,” Sybil told him. “Have some breakfast. You’re dead on your feet.”

Guilt washed over him as he collapsed into a chair. “Oh, love, I’m so sorry. You must have been up half the night. I bet you’ve had no sleep.”

“You needed a full night’s sleep more than me, Sam. You’ve been working yourself ragged lately. Besides, Havelock was a great help. He took the baby when he woke up early this morning so I could have a lie in.”

“It was really no problem,” Havelock told her.

Sam leaned back in his chair, with a silly grin on his face as he watched Sybil fuss over the table, serving up breakfast, chatting with Havelock. It seemed so domesticated, and _natural_ , that he wondered how he’d gotten so damn lucky. He had never imagined he would have ever found a woman like Sybil - kind, compassionate, and fierce in her love for him, but he had, even though he didn’t think he deserved it. And now he had Havelock as well, and if finding his wife had been surprising, then this had blown him away. To think that the man that at one time he was sure he hated, would claim his heart was almost unthinkable. But he had.

Sam looked around at his family, and as tired as he was, he felt very, very happy.

  


**Author's Note:**

> I've been so busy with my V/V Alphabet Challenge that I've kind of neglected this series. Now that the challenge is finished though I'll try and post more often to this :)


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